Tag Archive: elite class

Recently I went to the theater to watch the Movie “Prometheus” which has R-Rating universally and I couldn’t believe my eyes and asked question to myself….what?? When I saw children who would be approximate in between 10-12 of age occupied 2 front rows of the theater. For a minute I was in a state of shock! Because I knew what this movie was all about since I am in a habit of taking a feedback and reviews prior watching it. So having children there was totally not acceptable. The movie was no doubt worth watching for the adults. For those who haven’t seen this movie here is the brief description.

The movie “Prometheus” is about humans who were genetically created by an alien race of super-beings called ‘Engineers’. These Engineers choose a planet which can sustain life and the Engineers then travel across the universe to it. From there, one Engineer must sacrifice himself by taking a mixture of Alien which essentially breaks down the Engineer’s DNA. From there, the Engineer is destroyed and his DNA is spread to mix with that of the native planet. From there life is created and evolved to what we have become today. It comes with such profound questions as ‘Where did we come from?’ ‘What happens when we die?’ ‘Why are we here?’ ‘Who created us?’

The questions posed in this story do not contradict science or religion as the most profound question is still left unanswered – where did the Engineers come from? Not only that, since it was shown in 3D visuals, all weird species and their grimy activities was so obvious on the screen that it contributed to overall a “yuck feeling! ” in the certain part of the movie. So it’s quite evident that the content and visualization of such movies could barely be explicable to the children of such age.

There are few more movies which are currently projected on Pakistani Cinema like “Wander lust, Ted and etc. All these movies have the R-Ratings which is not only restricted to the violence but contain crude sexual content, pervasive language, and some drug usage. The Censor Board internationally have few ratings like G (Global) PG (Parental guidance) PG-13 and R (Adult) in order to bifurcate and categorize the audience and its very much obvious that which movies are for children and which are not but despite of that its very unfortunate that its not been followed here. Either it’s a deliberate attempt by parents or mere ignorance.

The question arises who is responsible for this? Should we blame the parents who despite of knowing the rating allows their children to let it go or the Cinema authorities who are selling the tickets to the children who are only concerned with the revenue and least bothered about who is watching? I guess I will blame both of them but at the outset it all starts from home. If we talk about the people of the upper class or upper middle class both, parents are becoming so busy with their life and their styles that they are fulfilling almost all of their needs without acknowledging the age. Parent thinks that if they buy all technological gadgets to their child along with whatever he/she demands they have attained all the marks for the parenthood.

Secondly, another responsibility lies with the Cinema/theater authorities who are selling the tickets to the children. Have they lost so much in commercialism that they do not want to pay heed what is happening around? Isn’t running a successful business compels them to show some social responsibility? I think they should.

It is duty of every organization to demonstrate or do any work for the social wellbeing of people and in this case all owners of Cinema and movie theaters should only allow selling the tickets to its audience according to the movie ratings. I would like Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) should also intervene in this situation and should set few strict standards for the exhibition of the movies in Pakistan, though it probably would be a petty issue for them but I am sure it would have a huge impact upon the- soon to be youth of Pakistan